CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Davidson, Furman and Chattanooga advanced to the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Men's Tennis Championships with first-round wins on Wednesday at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. Furman knocked off The Citadel, 4-1, while Davidson defeated the Wofford Terriers by the same score. Chattanooga defeated Georgia Southern, 4-3.
The No. 7 seed Furman defeated The Citadel behind strong play at the bottom of the Paladins' lineup. Furman claimed the doubles point and quickly moved ahead 2-0 when Tyler Droll defeated Elliott Sperr, 6-1, 6-0. Alex Christ gave the Paladins a 3-0 lead when he knocked off Josh Cook at No. 4, 6-1, 6-0. The Citadel's James Atkinson defeated Andrei Chvetsov, 6-0, 6-4 to put the Bulldogs on the board. Furman's Joel Cook beat Jeremiah Dye in straight sets (6-4, 6-0) at No. 6 singles to clinch the match for the Paladins. Furman advances to take on No. 3 seed UNCG Thursday at 3:00 p.m.
The Wildcats knocked off the Terriers with three straight-set wins in singles play. Following wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles by Davidson, Wofford's Michael Schecter made the match score 1-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Chris Mark. Davidson then won the next three singles matches to advance. Calum Gee topped Alan Donald, 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 singles before Joe Schafer defeated Tinus Van Wyk, 6-4, 6-3 at the top singles position. Ethan Kallick's 6-4, 7-5 win over Paul Bartholomy at No. 6 singles gave Davidson the match. The Wildcats will take on the No. 2 seed, College of Charleston, Thursday at 3:00 p.m.
Stephen Crofford's 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win over Sebastien Felt at No. 6 singles gave the Chattanooga Mocs a 4-3 win over Georgia Southern. With the match tied 3-3, Felt's win at No. 6 was the final singles match to finish and set the Mocs up with a match against top-seeded Elon Thursday afternoon.
Chattanooga's top two doubles teams came away with wins to give the Mocs the first point of the match. Chris Smith and William Disterdick posted an 8-5 win over Juan Melian Puigventos and Matthijs Verdamn at the top doubles position. UTC's tandem of Jackson Tresnan and Crofford downed Edio Castanhel and Marco Osorio, 8-5 at No. 2. Rick van de Bovenkamp pushed Chattanooga's lead to 2-0 with a straight sets win (6-2, 6-2) over Edio Castanhel at No. 4 singles. Georgia Southern's Verdam and Alain Garrido evened the match with wins at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Juan Melian Puigventos pushed GSU ahead, 3-2. Melian Puigventos got past Roberto Vieira, 6-1, 1-6, 5-0 before Vieira was forced to retire. Disterdick pulled the match even, 3-3, when he downed Mark Paeitz, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 at No. 5.
Men's action resumes Thursday at 1:00 p.m. The semifinals are set for Friday at 2:00 p.m. while the championship match is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Saturday.